SF Sketchfest – Spinning Platters

SF Sketchfest Review: Airplane! 45th Anniversary Live Read at Palace Of Fine Arts, 1/18/25

Photos By Jakub Mosur

I have no idea how old I was when I first saw Airplane!. All I knew was that it was likely far too young, but it’s been a significant part of my entire life. Which makes sense since I’m 45, and it turns 45 this year. Who is to blame for this movie following me my entire life? You guessed it. My own father is the one who showed me this piece of chaotic art at far too young an age. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Airplane! 45th Anniversary Live Read at Palace Of Fine Arts, 1/18/25”

SF Sketchfest Spotlight: How Did Demi Adejuiygbe Get Here?

Most people know Demi Adejuiygbe as the mastermind behind the legendary “September” videos. You may not know that he was a writer on The Good Place, possibly the greatest TV show ever, as well as The Amber Ruffin Show. As per the usual, we talked about his career, how he works, and, of course, there is a healthy dose of cat talk, complete with advice on how to properly AirTag your feline.

Demi has a sold-out show at Great Star Theater on Friday Night as part of SF Sketchfest doing his classic one-man show Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip, as well as appearing as part of Stamptown! at Club Fugazi on Saturday, January 18th. A limited number of tickets are available at the door, so I suggest you line up now for any and all of his SF Sketchfest appearances.

A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2025

I LOVE writing the Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest. It’s probably my favorite piece to write and research, and I always find something interesting and cool. (Special Thanks to Gordon Elgart for writing up Sup Bro & Albert Brooks) This year is no exception, and I’m pretty excited to share it with you. More shows than usual are selling out early, so please act quickly! The full schedule is here.

I will also note that a big chunk of the SF Sketchfest family is based in Los Angeles and is somehow STILL putting this thing on while their home is experiencing great tragedy. For those looking to donate, I am a big fan of Mutual Aid LA and their work, and I trust them to put your donations to good use. And folks in the Bay Area can bring items to Hella Positive to get them to our neighbors. Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2025”

SF Sketchfest Review: Doug Loves Movies Podcast at The Gateway Theater, 1/21/24

It’s SF Sketchfest time! I may have a schedule full of shows, but I am still here to give you this review/guide to Doug Loves Movies (DLM), comedian Doug Benson’s podcast that has been making us laugh since 2006. On the show he has celebrity guests (usually comedians or actors) and along with fun banter, tests their knowledge of movies with a variety of trivia games. For this episode (available here or on your favorite podcast streaming platform) his guests were Amy Schneider a writer of Jeopardy! fame; Geoff Tate: comedian and DLM regular: Chad Opitz: another comedian and regular; Anna Roisman: comedian, host, writer, actress; and Ardin Myrin: actress, comedian, and podcaster. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Doug Loves Movies Podcast at The Gateway Theater, 1/21/24”

SF Sketchfest Review: Jena Friedman: Not Funny with Brittany Carney at The Gateway Theater, 1.26.24

I’ve spent a LOT of the pandemic digging around YouTube, looking for ANYTHING to push the serotonin levels up. That’s when I uncovered Jena Friedman’s YouTube channel. Insomnia + depression + anxiety are all great for political satire, and I really fell head over heels for what she was doing. Little did I know that she was a writer on The Daily Show, but it all kind of made sense after that. In another depressed fit, I ended up preordering her book Not Funny, and despite not feeling depressed when I read it, I still enjoyed it. So, of course, when SF Sketchfest presented me with the opportunity to see her live, I figured it was something I needed to do. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Jena Friedman: Not Funny with Brittany Carney at The Gateway Theater, 1.26.24”

How Did I Get Here? with Jamie Loftus

Jamie Loftus is a writer, actor, comic, cartoonist, podcaster, and probably has about 3500 other jobs that we never covered on this episode because, well, there is only so much time in the day. In this episode we discussed her early playwriting days, stand-up comedy, the difference between eating dog food and condensed cream of mushroom soup, and, since this is Spinning Platters, we even talked about music!

She’s taking her podcast, The Bechdel Cast, on the road! Tickets and tour dates are here, and it all kicks off with a visit to SF Sketchfest on February 1st at 7:30! You can also pick up Loftus’ amazing book, Raw Dog, here. And, of course, you can find all other things Loftus here! Oh, and this is where you can enjoy the CVS Bangerz playlist!

How Did I Get Here? with Dulce Sloan

We are trying something new with this episode. I am NOT doing any preroll. No theme song. No “warm open.” Let me know what you think.

Dulce Sloan is best known for being a correspondent on The Daily Show and often killing it in that role. We chatted about her move from theater to stand-up, the folks that inspired you along the way, and, of course, The Daily Show and her upcoming book, Hello Friends! Stories Of Dating, Destiny, and Day Jobs coming your way on February 6th (Preorder Here!)

Sloan is in SF this weekend to play a slew of SF Sketchfest events, including a headline set at Brava Theater on Saturday, January 20th at 9:30 pm. Her full schedule can be found here. If you choose not to leave home, she’s also starring in The Great North, which can be seen on Hulu as well as Sunday Nights on Fox!

A Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2024

Whoa! This is my 12th Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest! And after 14 long years (including two really, really long years not too long ago) of writing these, I can declare that SF Sketchfest has finally done it! They’ve booked the holy trinity of surreal sketch comedy! Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame), Kids In The Hall, and The State are all appearing! These three are the unifying forces that brought together both the stoners and the kids afraid of weed. AND I AM HERE FOR IT! Honestly, this year’s SF Sketchfest, which I believe is the 21st edition of the event, is probably the most bonkers year yet. I have barely started to figure out what gigs I’m seeing… I need to write this almost for myself as much as for you, my loyal reader.

A complete schedule and links to tickets can be found here!

Thursday, January 18th Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2024”

SF SKETCHFEST 2024 LINE UP!

Way back in 2019, I ended up seeing Phil Collins with SF Sketchfest founder David Owen, and I told him that all I wanted at SF Sketchfest was to get a reunion of The State. Well- in 2024- WE ARE GETTING THE STATE DOING A WHOLE SET OF NEVER BEFORE SEEN SKETCHES AND “MIS-FIRES”!!! WHOA! 12 year old me is SO STOKED!!!! We are also getting two different shows from The Kids In The Hall, as well as an evening with Monty Python’s Eric Idle. So the “Sketch Comedy forever warped my pubescent brain” trifecta WILL BE REPRESENTED!

On top of that, we will also get an Amber Ruffin Tribute, Paul Giamatti’s CHINWAG Podcast, Actor Michael Shannon alongside Jason Narducy doing REM’s Murmur and Reckoning albums (!), Pylon Reenactment Society which is pretty much as close as we are ever gonna get to a Pylon reunion, a return of kid’s programming with Mo Willems doing a story time with W Kamau Bell, Dulce Sloan, and Weird Al Yankovic (!), Tim Capello doing the music from The Lost Boys with the Red Room Orchestra and too much more for me to even begin to highlight. As usual, we will get our Nerd’s Guide up in early 2024. Tickets for all shows are on sale Sunday, November 19th at 10 am.

Here’s a full list of all the wonderful stuff they’ve got in store. I literally haven’t been able to take in all of it: Continue reading “SF SKETCHFEST 2024 LINE UP!”

SF Sketchfest Review: Janeane Garafalo at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 1/28/23

No, that’s not an unhoused person. It’s Janeane Garafolo! A clan of the cave bear silhouette, Janeane shuffled out from the side stage with self-proclaimed “unsolicited dreads” and control top tights & shorts. Two separate nude concealing undergarments, mind you. She claims that when she got hit by a car, Spanks™ saved her from going to the hospital. Which she just won’t do anyway. She claims to be a “Pedo~file:” she walks everywhere, hates working on her core, and refuses checkups and physicals. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Janeane Garafalo at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 1/28/23”